


Without A Paddle

by telperion_15



Series: Nick/Connor [4]
Category: Primeval
Genre: Action, Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon, Creature Attack, Established Relationship, Gen, M/M, Up a Tree
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-15
Updated: 2012-02-15
Packaged: 2017-10-31 06:07:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/340784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/telperion_15/pseuds/telperion_15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A creature incursion causes trouble for all concerned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A note about OCs:  
> Primeval fandom on LiveJournal has generated a number of fanon OCs, created by different authors and freely used by others, to the extent that some of them have now taken on lives of their own. The ones that appear in this fic, Rees, Jacobs, Anders and Davis belong to me.

“They were one of my favourites when I was a kid,” whispered Connor. “The books always made them look so friendly.”

“I think the books got it wrong,” muttered Nick.

They were both crouched in a patch of scrub that bordered a larger patch of woodland, surveying a meadow where, currently, a pair of _Triceratops_ were placidly grazing. Deceptively placidly, in Nick’s opinion, considering that ten minutes previously they had been charging about the place in a decidedly unplacid manner.

It wasn’t really their fault, he supposed. After all, his reaction to having a dart stuck in his behind would probably have been to run about angrily as well. At least, before the drug took effect and he toppled over.

Unfortunately, that hadn’t happened with the triceratops. It appeared that Abby had guessed the dose incorrectly, and instead of sedating the creature to make it easier to herd back through the anomaly, the dart had only made it mad. And its bad mood had in turn affected its friend, until they had a pair of extremely pissed off ten-ton dinosaurs stampeding at anything that moved.

Discretion had seemed to be the better part of valour at that point, which had led to Nick and Connor hiding in the bushes, while Abby had crawled under the nearest truck with her dart gun. Jenny had hurriedly jumped into the backseat of the second truck, and the soldiers had retreated behind the third vehicle, over the top of which several of them were now stealthily peering.

And was it Nick’s imagination, or were one or two of them readying their weapons?

Surreptitiously he waved a hand at them, hoping at least one of them would notice the universal gesture to stop.

Mistake. Big mistake.

One of the triceratops noticed the movement and swung its head round sharply in the direction of Nick and Connor’s only partial hiding place. What on earth it was about either of them that was a problem Nick didn’t know, but it was obvious that the creature now considered them a threat. It let out a mournful bellow and started lumbering towards them at a fast trot.

“Move!” Nick hissed urgently.

“Where to?” Connor asked.

“I don’t know. Just get out of the way!”

Nick propelled himself sideways through the bushes, torn between trying to remain concealed and trying to push out into the open so he would have more room to manoeuvre. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Connor had skipped that dilemma and had run out into the field, trying to circle around the triceratops, whose hefty bulk wouldn’t allow it to turn too quickly.

A second bellow signalled that the other animal was getting agitated again as well. There was the familiar hiss of released compressed air as the dart gun went off again, and then Abby’s voice yelling, “Connor! Look out!”

Against all his flight instincts, Nick turned. The creature that had been coming towards him had veered away slightly – Nick could see the dart protruding from its hide and knew that Abby had found her mark. But that wasn’t what was holding his attention.

The second triceratops was dancing around nervously near the field boundary, its state of mind not being helped in the slightest by the fact that Jacobs and his men had emerged from behind their truck, and were now fanning out around it. And caught against the hedge, with nowhere else to go, was Connor. He was within feet of the wildly swinging horns, and for a split second Nick had a horrific, and very vivid, mental image of what would happen to the young man if those horns came too close to him.

Abby had scrambled out from under her own truck and was hurriedly trying to reload the dart gun. The first triceratops was starting to show signs of dopiness, which indicated she’d finally got the dose right. But Nick could see that she wasn’t going to be fast enough, and he knew that this might have to be one of those times where the military would have to do the job instead.

He couldn’t let Connor get hurt.

One of Jacobs’ men fired off a brief round of shots – but for once it was designed to distract, not destroy. And it worked. The triceratops swung round to face the recurring threat of the soldiers, turning its horned face away from Connor’s vicinity.

But what none of them had banked on was the stubby, but very powerful, tail the creature possessed. Connor’s face showed an almost comical expression of surprise as the tip of that tail caught him under the ribs and propelled him into the air. Nick watched in horror as Connor flew almost twenty feet before crashing into a tree, his body then falling into a crumpled heap at the foot of it.

*   *   *   *   *

Darkness. Everything was black. Or was that grey? Yep, definitely grey. And heading further towards lighter grey with every passing second.

“Ow…” The word cam out as an agonised groan as Connor’s eyelids fluttered open, his retinas protesting at the golden light from the setting sun even as his body made all its hurts known to him in one fell swoop.

“Connor!”

A blurry, but incredibly worried looking, face hovered over him. His fuzzy brain took a couple of seconds to put a name to it.

“Nick…?”

“Yes.” Nick sounded relieved, and Connor tried to summon up a smile, although he suspected it might have come out as more of a painful grimace when the crease between Nick’s brows deepened.

“Give him some space for a few moments, sir.”

Nick’s expression turned irritated, but then his face reluctantly moved out of Connor’s field of vision, to be replaced by another one.

This name was harder. The man was a soldier, Connor knew that much, but he’d always had trouble remembering which name belonged to which of the Special Forces men, even when the contents of his head _didn’t_ feel like they had been partially pulverised.

“It’s Lieutenant Rees, Mr. Temple,” the soldier said clearly, taking pity on Connor’s brain.

“Name’s Connor,” mumbled Connor. ‘Mr. Temple’ sounded too much like his father.

Rees flashed a brief smile. “Okay, Connor. Now, can you tell me where it hurts?”

“Everywhere.”

Rees smiled again. “Care to be a little more specific? Any particularly painful areas?”

Connor thought carefully around the pounding in his skull. “My head hurts a lot,” he said finally, and truthfully.

“You hit that tree pretty hard,” Rees told him. “Any trouble breathing?”

“No.”

“It sounds like he got off extremely luckily,” Rees said, clearly not talking to Connor now. “There’s no evidence of any broken bones or internal injuries at this stage. I was worried he might have broken some ribs, but they seem to be intact. But he’s going to have some quite spectacular bruising, and his right arm will be _very_ tender for a while. The thing I’m most worried about is his head. He could well have concussion. He really needs to be seen by a doctor.”

Now Connor remembered – Rees was the medic for Jacobs’ unit. The soldier had patched several of them up in the field during the previous few months. He was good at his job, and Connor felt relieved to hear the assessment that he wasn’t too badly hurt coming from this man’s mouth.

“Then we need to get him to hospital.” That was Nick’s voice, worried yet firm.

“With all due respect, sir, you need to go and help Miss Lewis sort out our creature problem. I can take Mr…Connor to hospital.”

“But…”

“No arguments, sir.”

Connor would have smiled at hearing Nick put so firmly in his place. That was, if smiling didn’t make his face hurt so much.

“Connor? Connor, can you sit up? Carefully now…”

An arm was slid under his shoulders, jarring his head slightly. Connor held his breath until the wave of pain had passed, and then allowed himself to be assisted into a semi-upright position.

A bout of dizziness assailed him, and for a few seconds he thought he was going to throw up all over Rees’ uniform. But he successfully managed to keep his lunch in his stomach where it belonged, and when he could raise his head again he looked around apologetically.

Despite Rees’ earlier instructions, Nick was still crouched next to him, and was still looking worried. Connor endeavoured to smile, despite the pain it caused him.

“I’ll be okay. Rees is right. Go and deal with the triceratops.” He looked around again. The field was empty except for two of the trucks. “Where are they, anyway?”

“One’s gone home – finally – and the other’s gone for a little walk,” replied Nick succinctly. He frowned. “Are you sure you’ll be okay? I can stay.”

“Go,” Connor insisted. “I’m sure I’ll be perfectly alright in Lieutenant Rees’ more than capable hands.

“He’ll be fine, sir,” Rees agreed. “I’ll let him rest and gather his strength for a few minutes, and then I’ll take him to the hospital.”

Nick still looked unconvinced, but when Connor made a small shooing motion with his left hand, he smiled at him fondly. “Okay, I’m going. But the second we get that thing back through the anomaly I’ll be coming to the hospital. Got it?”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Connor replied.

Nick leaned in and planted a soft kiss on Connor’s forehead. Connor flushed at the intimacy of such a gesture in front of Rees, even though he knew that their relationship had become common knowledge a while back. Nick seemed totally unembarrassed, however, and he flashed another quick smile at Connor before standing up and moving away towards one of the trucks, where Abby was waiting for him in the passenger seat, relief that Connor was going to be okay painted across her features.

Connor grimaced slightly as Rees’ hand flexed against his tender right side.

“Do you think you can shuffle backwards slightly, Connor? Then you can lean against this tree while I take another look at you.”

*   *   *   *   *

Nick assessed the situation carefully, wishing for the twentieth time that the triceratops had just followed its friend’s example and gone home instead of stampeding a mile and a half down the hill towards the little village nestled in the valley.

The only silver lining to this very dark cloud was that the animal had actually stopped just short of the village, and was currently nibbling at a bush on a patch of common ground bordering the road where, judging by the odd bench and pole-mounted bin, the locals liked to walk their dogs.

But Nick could see the lights of the village further down the road, and didn’t want to take any chances. The cold afternoon was rapidly dissolving into an even colder evening, which would in all likelihood keep the village residents indoors. But if the triceratops decided to take a walk in the direction of the houses, only one person would have to be looking out of their window for everything to go pear-shaped.

Hence the fact that he, Abby, Jenny, Jacobs, and the rest of the soldiers were keeping a fair distance away, so as not to spook the creature while Abby struggled to measure out the correct dose of sedative, peering at her dart gun through the gathering darkness. The triceratops had already startled slightly when she and Nick had turned up in their truck, but it seemed to have calmed down again now.

Nick had mentioned to Jacobs that Rees had stayed to look after Connor and take him to the hospital. Jacobs had simply nodded approvingly and then gone back to watching the triceratops – even though he had left two members of his unit guarding the still open anomaly in the woods in addition to leaving Rees with Connor, the presence of Anders, and Davis’ unit, meant he still had enough men to cover the situation if it should turn bad.

Jenny appeared beside him silently. She’d been having a very quiet phone conversation with Lester around the back of one of the trucks, and Nick turned to look at her expectantly.

“James has arranged for the lorry you requested,” she told him. “But it’s having to come from a town twenty miles away. It won’t be here for at least half an hour.”

“Half an hour?!” Nick struggled to keep his voice to an outraged whisper. “What are we supposed to do with that…” He gestured to the triceratops, “…for half an hour?”

“Give it a higher dose of sedative?” Jenny suggested.

“It doesn’t work like that,” Abby interjected quietly. “Too high a dose and it’ll just keel over. The only reason that didn’t happen to the first one was that there was a significant gap between the doses I gave it.”

“Well, how long will this dose last?” asked Jenny.

“I don’t know,” responded Abby. “But if it does last for long enough then we shouldn’t have too much trouble keeping the animal where we want it.”

*   *   *   *   *

Connor moved his head experimentally, bracing himself for the inevitable world-spinning that currently accompanied such a movement.

Only this time it didn’t. Sure, it lurched a little, but essentially everything stayed where it was supposed to. The sky was up and the ground was down. Precisely where they should be.

After Nick and Abby had left to join Jenny and the soldiers, Rees had proceeded to perform a barrage of simple tests to establish Connor’s medical status. How many fingers am I holding up, follow this pen with your eyes, that sort of thing. Coupling the results of those tests with Connor’s remaining nausea and dizziness, Rees had come to the conclusion that Connor almost certainly _did_ have concussion. He definitely needed to go to the hospital.

Connor opened his mouth to tell the lieutenant that he was feeling a little better and that they should probably make a move.

But the words never made it past his lips.

_Tell me I didn’t hear what I think I just heard_.

Ears straining, Connor listened intently. Everything was quiet – the only noise a faint rustling of leaves in the evening breeze.

Then it hit him – it was _too_ quiet. Previously there had been the sounds of small creatures scuttling through the undergrowth, and the odd chirrup of a bird as it settled in to roost now that dusk had completely fallen.

But now there was nothing. Something had scared the creatures around here into silence. And Connor had a sinking feeling that he knew what it was.

He heard it again. A noise somewhere between a purr and a snort. Long, low, and rumbling. A sound that he’d heard before. One that had terrified him then, and was terrifying him now.

Connor silently reached out and grabbed the leg of the soldier standing beside him, trying to warn him without words. But the tenseness of the muscles under his hand betrayed the fact that Rees had heard the unmistakeably predatory noise as well, and when Connor looked up at him he saw the lieutenant looking back down at him questioningly.

Raising a finger to his lips, Connor tried to convey _we need to get out of here_ without speaking. Silence, at this juncture, was very definitely golden.

Rees jerked his head in the direction of the remaining truck, parked about fifty yards away in the open space of the field. Connor shook his head, fighting down residual nausea as he did so. It was too far away. Twenty yards to their left was the hedge that marked the field boundary, and the truck was diagonally off to their right. But the noise had also come from their right, and Connor knew they would have to cross the creature’s line of sight to reach the truck. And if it _was_ what he suspected it was, then it would be fast.  _Too_ fast.

But they couldn’t stay where they were. If the animal emerged from the tree line, they would be in full view.

They only had one other option. Connor gestured behind them. They were going into the woods.

*   *   *   *   *

Manoeuvring the truck carefully across the rutted field behind the lorry carrying the triceratops, Nick mentally calculated how long it would be before they could get the creature home and he could get to the hospital to check on Connor.

Judging by the lack of angry pounding coming from the lorry in front of him, the triceratops was still docile from the drugs Abby had given it, and Nick hoped that would make it easy to shepherd it into the woods and send it back through the anomaly.

He wasn’t counting on it, though. Things had been too easy so far. The triceratops had been drugged and loaded on to the lorry down by the village without so much as a single villager coming to see what all the fuss was about. They had been as quiet as it was possible to be, but loading a ten-ton dinosaur into the back of a lorry – even a remarkably passive ten-ton dinosaur – still created a certain amount of noise.

Maybe the villagers were just indoor types. Or maybe they were used to slightly odd occurrences happening nearby. Nick’s mind shied away from that thought – if the residents of this village knew about the anomaly, that would just open a whole new can of worms that he didn’t even want to _contemplate_ right now.

He parked the truck next to the lorry, and then rested his forehead against the steering wheel momentarily, trying to gather his thoughts.

“Hey, are you okay?” Abby asked sympathetically from the passenger seat.

Nick lifted his head. “I’m fine. Just trying to adjust to our mad lives once again.  You ready to go?”

Abby smiled at him. “Always.”

But as he clambered out of the truck, Nick saw that Jenny was beckoning to him anxiously, her other hand pointing at something that was out of Nick’s eye-line behind the lorry. Taking a couple of steps forward, he saw what it was.

The third truck. Still parked where they’d left it. The truck that Rees was supposed to have used to take Connor to the hospital.

Nick’s heart sank and he hurried towards Jenny. As he got closer he could see a cluster of soldiers gathered beyond the truck, by the trees, apparently looking at something on the ground. His sense of foreboding grew.

“Where are Connor and Rees?” he demanded as he reached Jenny.

“We don’t know,” she replied. “But Anders says he’s found something over there.” She pointed towards the soldiers, and Nick immediately set off towards them.

“What’s happened? What have you found?” he said, as soon as he was close enough to be understood.

Jacobs stepped away from the group. “They’re not here,” he said succinctly.

“I can see that! So where are they?”

“We think they’ve gone into the woods,” Anders interjected. The soldier was crouched down by a tree, his palm flat on the ground.

Nick crouched down beside him. “And what makes you think that?”

“This is where you left them, right?”

Nick nodded.

“Well, they stayed here for a while after you went. There’s a partial foot print from Rees’ boot, and this grass has been flattened by someone sitting on it.”

“Rees said he was going to let Connor rest for a bit before they headed to the hospital,” Nick confirmed.

“As the grass is still flat, they can’t have been gone longer than half an hour. But the ground is cold, which means they must have left at least ten minutes ago. In these temperatures the soil wouldn’t retain body heat for long.”

“But why would they have gone into the woods? Why not head for the truck?”

“They must have had no choice. Something must have threatened them, stopped them from getting to the vehicle.”

Nick asked the question that he really didn’t want to ask. “Do you think that something could have taken them?”

“No,” replied Anders. “I don’t. There’s no blood, no sign of anything being dragged away, and no spent ammo cartridges. You can bet that if anything attacked them Rees would have tried to fight it off. But there’s no evidence of that. No, I think they left under their own steam.”

Jacobs immediately started snapping out instructions. “Davis, take your team and start searching. The woods aren’t that big – they can’t have got far. Anders, the professor, and I will head for the anomaly. Maybe Maguire and Carter have seen something. Hell, Rees and Temple might have gone to them for backup. Keep in radio contact at all times, and meet back here in one hour exactly. Got that?”

“Got it.” Davis nodded, and then he and his men set off into the woods, disappearing into the gloom after only a few yards.

“What about us?”

Abby and Jenny had come up behind them, both looking faintly upset at the turn events had taken.

Nick answered. “You need to stay here.”

“But…” Abby protested.

“Don’t argue, Abby,” Nick interrupted. “Someone needs to keep an eye on the triceratops. We can’t deal with it at the moment, and I need you to make sure it doesn’t get angry or distressed being shut up in the lorry. Hit it with another dose of sedative if you have to. Just keep it calm.”

“And let me guess – I’m too much of a liability,” Jenny said wryly before Nick could address her.

“Do you really want to go running around in the woods?” Nick asked her.

“Not really,” she conceded. “I’ll phone Lester – let him know what’s going on.”

“Good,” said Nick. He stood. “And be careful, both of you. Something’s on the loose out here, and I don’t want either of you to get hurt. Stay in the lorry – you should be safe in there.”

Abby still looked upset at being left behind, but Nick couldn’t worry about that now. He looked at Jacobs and Anders.

"Let's go."


	2. Chapter 2

The glimmering light of the anomaly cast odd shadows across the trees and undergrowth, making it hard to pick things out in the darkness. It hid some things, and fooled the eye into seeing others that weren’t really there.

What it could not obscure, however, was the two bodies lying on the ground of the small clearing it had chosen to make its appearance in. Two bodies that should have been standing upright, guarding the anomaly, but that were now unconscious…or worse.

Jacobs swore softly, but assessed the surrounding environment as well as he was able under the circumstances before stepping forward to check on his men, followed closely by Nick and Anders.

It was immediately obvious that neither were in good shape. Nick knelt down by Carter just as a soft groan told him that this soldier, at least, was conscious.

“Corporal Carter,” he whispered hoarsely. “Can you hear me?” He interpreted a second groan as a yes, and leant slightly closer.

It was then that he noticed that the ground where he had placed his hand to steady himself was wet. More than wet, in fact – it was sopping. In the half-light it was difficult to tell what the liquid was, but Nick didn’t need to see that it was red to know that it was blood.

“Anders, help me out here.”

Together they rolled Carter over on to his back, and Nick had to stop himself recoiling from what he saw. Carter’s torso had been diagonally slashed almost clean across by what was undoubtedly a claw. It was sheer luck that he hadn’t been disembowelled, but he had lost a lot of blood – both the wetness of the ground and the paleness of Carter’s skin telling Nick that this man needed medical attention, _now_.

“What did this?” asked Anders quietly.

Nick could think of several answers to that question, none of them good. He settled for, “I’m not sure. But whatever it was, we don’t want to meet it in the woods on a dark night.”

He looked over to where Jacobs was crouched by Maguire, his fingers on the man’s neck. “How is he?”

Jacobs’ face was grim. “Dead,” he answered bluntly. “He wasn’t so lucky.”

“I’m sorry. But Carter needs to get to a hospital.” Nick glanced at Anders. “See if you can raise Jenny. Get her to send some medical backup out here. He’s certainly going to need it, and others might too.” He didn’t need to spell out that ‘others’ would probably include Rees and Connor.

As Anders muttered into his radio, Jacobs looked sharply at Nick. “What did this?” he asked, in echo of his lieutenant’s question.

“Could be any one of several theropod dinosaurs. All mean, all predatory, and all more than capable of doing what’s been done to these two,” Nick answered. “I’d say that, right now, _Utahraptor_ is the most likely candidate. We’ve seen them before, in the shopping centre. Not a nice creature. Although it’s odd…”

Jacobs held up a hand, cutting him off. His sharp ears had picked up a distant noise – one that sounded like leaves rustling in the wake of something brushing by them. It had originated back in the direction they had come from, towards the meadow, and as Nick listened the sound was repeated, slightly louder this time. Slightly closer. 

Jacobs immediately swung his weapon round, Anders following suit as the noise sounded a third time. Nick tensed. He knew it probably wasn’t a raptor – they were much more silent and efficient hunters than this – but if it was, running would get them precisely nowhere. They could hide, but it would almost certainly smell them out.

Their only option was to wait.

*   *   *   *   *

Connor peered down through the darkness below him, trying to persuade himself that he really _could_ see the ground, and he wasn’t just imagining – hoping – he could. He knew he wasn’t that high up really, but not being able to see the forest floor made it feel a lot further than it really was.

Tree climbing had never been a skill Connor had excelled at as a kid. And it appeared it was something a person didn’t get naturally better at with age, either. He had climbed as far as he could up this particular tree before the desire not to fall too far had outweighed the desire not to get eaten, but he still wasn’t sure he had climbed far enough.

To that end, he was perched rather precariously fifteen feet above the ground, his knees drawn up and his feet resting on the branch, his left hand clutching at another nearby branch to steady himself. Still, it wasn’t the most stable of positions, as had been proved by one of Connor’s feet slipping off the branch twice already. But he had immediately drawn them back – it didn’t seem wise to let limbs dangle, given what he suspected was following them.

It didn’t help that he was still in quite a lot of pain. His right arm and side were throbbing badly, and thanks to the effects of his probable concussion the world was still a bit fuzzy, which was only hampering his efforts to remain on his perch. And the pounding in his skull was making it difficult to concentrate on anything else, no matter how much he tried to ignore it.

Rees was sitting astride a branch in the next-door tree, about six feet to Connor’s right and three feet higher than him. From what Connor could see in the darkness, the soldier looked a lot more at home in this situation than Connor felt. Clearly, he had been one of those athletic, outdoors-y types when he was little.

Still, no matter how much he disliked being in this tree, and how hard it was proving to remain there, Connor was glad Rees had suggested they get off the ground. He’d been beginning to wonder if they’d both imagined the threat – they’d seen and heard nothing in the ten minutes they’d been pushing through the undergrowth, and they’d definitely been making enough noise to tell any predators _exactly_ where they were.

But the hairs on the back of his neck had still been prickling, and clearly Rees’ had too, because without warning the soldier had suddenly come to a dead halt, looked around sharply (although what he could see in this blackness Connor didn’t know), and had then gestured upwards, the implication unmistakeable.

And although they had now been up here for at least five minutes, and no threats had appeared, Connor felt no inclination to climb down again. The hairs were still twitching, and he knew without a doubt that they were still in danger, even up here.

“Hey.” The word was spoken so quietly as to be almost below hearing range, but the urgency behind it carried it to Connor’s ears anyway. Connor knew he shouldn’t reply, so instead he turned his head towards Rees slightly, hoping that the soldier would know he had heard.

Rees gestured downwards with the tip of his rifle. Connor’s eyes followed the movement down into the darkness below them. At first he couldn’t make anything out. The moon hadn’t yet risen high enough to send light down through the tree canopy, and although there was still some residual light from the sunset, it wasn’t enough to do much more than light the tops of the trees. So it was difficult to see anything down below.

But then there was a slight noise – maybe a growl? And suddenly the faintest of movements caught Connor’s eye. It was nothing more than black on black, really, but now that he knew where to look, he thought he could discern a shape emerging from a gap in the bushes. A shape that made his blood run cold.

From this distance he couldn’t really make any definite judgements about size or species, but he’d been thinking furiously, in between running for his life and bracing himself against his pounding headache, about what could have come through an anomaly from around the same time and place as the triceratops, and he’d come up with only one conclusion. And it wasn’t a happy one.

_Utahraptor_.  _Velociraptor’s_ bigger, meaner cousin. A dinosaur that he had already made far too close an acquaintance with back in that shopping centre. Connor suddenly really hoped he and Rees had climbed their trees high enough.

Still, something didn’t quite sit right (and he welcomed the academic mystery almost in relief). The fossil record indicated that, although utahraptor and triceratops had both lived on what would become the North American continent during the Cretaceous, their time on the planet had actually been separated by 40 million years or more. Therefore, how could they both be coming through the same anomaly at the same time?

Connor supposed it could be that they _had_ actually lived side-by-side – the fossil record _was_ very patchy, after all. No one was claiming that it presented a complete picture of the prehistoric world. But instinctively Connor knew that this wasn’t the reason. Something else was going on…

Watching the vague shape below them, Connor made himself as still and small as possible. The creature was showing no signs of being aware of them, but that was no reason to tempt fate. Connor didn’t know if it had tracked them here, or if this was just one big coincidence. He held his breath as the raptor seemed to pause below his tree, and then let it out again silently when the animal continued on through the undergrowth.

It was at least five minutes before he allowed himself to move again, despite the cramping in his legs and the increasing ache in his side and arm. Fortunately, Rees hadn’t seemed inclined to jump out of the tree as soon as the raptor had vanished – like Connor he seemed to appreciate that the danger could well still be present, even if they couldn’t see it.

Connor sincerely hoped that someone was coming to rescue them. He knew he would be incredibly embarrassed when a group of soldiers – and maybe Nick? – rode in on the proverbial white horse, but right now, in the cold and darkness, he would even have been glad to see Lester. The civil servant’s particular brand of scathing sarcasm might be enough to make even a utahraptor think twice.

*   *   *   *   *

Nick stood behind Jacobs and Anders, keeping out of their way and, he hoped, out of danger. Although, he suddenly realised, standing as he was with his back to the anomaly, he made the perfect target for anything else that suddenly decided to vacation in the twenty-first century.

Shifting position slightly, he raised his handgun tentatively. Jacobs had given it to him before they’d set off, but the weapon was more a last resort than anything else – Nick was under no illusions about his ability to use it effectively. Still, right at this moment, the weight in his hand seemed more of a comfort than a burden.

“Bloody hell.”

Anders’ profanity dragged Nick’s gaze away from the anomaly for a second, and what he saw made his shoulders sag slightly in relief. The source of the noises had finally emerged from the trees. And it wasn’t a raptor. It was a triceratops. And although the creature looked a shade pissed off, it didn’t appear to be in any desperate hurry to maim or trample them. In fact, it seemed far more focused on the anomaly, and as Nick and the soldiers watched, it gave a low bellow and trundled past them into the flickering shards of light.

“That was the triceratops we left in the lorry,” Nick said, surprised. “But how did it get here?”

“I think Miss Lewis might have been about to explain that to me,” Anders said, looking faintly embarrassed. “But all I caught were the words ‘the triceratops has…’ before we got distracted by…well, by the triceratops.”

“You might have mentioned it,” said Jacobs.

“There wasn’t really time.”

The good-natured argument was interrupted by Nick shushing them both. “We were lucky this time,” he said sharply. “But it doesn’t change the fact that there’s at least one – probably more – lethal hunters out there. We have to find Connor and Rees.” The welling panic that he’d been feeling ever since he’d seen the state of Carter and Maguire threatened to spill into his voice, and he fought to keep the words steady.

“No can do, professor,” replied Jacobs, who then hurried to continue when he saw the amazed anger flare in Nick’s eyes. “We’ve got to stay here with Carter until help arrives. Or do you suggest we leave him here alone?”

“Let Anders stay with him,” blustered Nick. “You and I can carry on searching.”

“I won’t leave one of my men alone,” said Jacobs implacably. “You said it yourself, professor – there are lethal hunters out here. No one should be without backup. If we had a fourth person I might consider it. Then we could stay in pairs. But we don’t.” The spectre of who that fourth person _could_ have been hovered between them for a moment before Jacobs delivered his verdict. “We’re staying together, and we’re staying _here_.”

Nick bristled angrily, but then subsided, reluctantly seeing the sense in the captain’s words. Jacobs took pity on him.

“Davis and his lads are still looking. They’ll find Rees and Temple. And Rees is a good soldier. He knows a few tricks. He’ll keep Temple safe.”

*   *   *   *   *

“Connor. Connor!”

Connor stirred slightly as he felt something poking him. Opening his eyes blearily, he peered through the darkness, just able to make out Rees leaning across from his tree, the butt of his gun extended towards Connor.

“Connor, you need to stay awake, mate. Concussion and unconsciousness don’t make good bedfellows. Trust me on that.”

“I wasn’t asleep,” Connor protested. “I was just resting my eyes.” But even in the dim light he could see the sceptical expression on Rees’ face, and he sighed. “Fine. I’ll try to stay awake.”

“Tell me about our prehistoric visitors. Do you think they’ll come back? They didn’t look particularly friendly.”

“They’re not,” replied Connor. “They’d eat you as soon as look at you. In fact, we probably shouldn’t be making this much noise. We were lucky that the last one didn’t spot us, but they’ve got very good hearing. And it’s not like there’s any other noise to drown us out.”

“And if you lose consciousness you’ll be dropping off in more ways than one,” Rees pointed out. “I need to keep you awake. We’ll just have to take the risk.”

“Well, they shouldn’t be able to get at us up here,” Connor allowed, although secretly he wasn’t _entirely_ convinced of that fact. “But we’ll need to be absolutely sure they’re gone before we climb down again.”

“Well, I’m sure the others are looking for us even as we speak. We just need to sit tight.”

“So, how long have you been in the military?” Connor asked, fighting through the fuzziness in his head for a topic of conversation.

“About ten years. Joined up straight after university. Been in the Special Forces for the last couple.”

“And you’re a lieutenant. Lieutenant Rees. What _is_ your first name, anyway?” As he asked the question, Connor suddenly realised that he didn’t actually know the first names of _any_ of the soldiers – a fact that embarrassed him slightly.

“It’s Matthew. Matt,” Rees replied. “Although we’re not big on first names in our line of work. Not sure why, it just seems to turn out like that.”

“Phew – that makes me feel better,” Connor joked. “I thought I was being a very bad colleague.”

“Well, you may have noticed we generally apply the same principle to you lot as well,” said Rees. “Unless told otherwise.” He grinned, and Connor caught a flash of teeth in the darkness.

“So how different is this assignment to your last one? I mean, ignoring the whole dinosaurs-coming-through-rips-in-time-and-space thing. Is it as dangerous? Do you have to work as hard? Were you…”

Rees held up a hand to silence him. Connor obeyed instantly, his eyes dropping automatically to the ground. At first he couldn’t see anything, like last time. Then he could. The utahraptor was back.

And it had brought some friends.

Connor froze, hardly even daring to breathe. Hardly even daring to _think_. He was sure the pounding of his heart, or perhaps the pounding of his head, would be heard by the animals below. And once again he found himself hoping they’d climbed high enough.

He _knew_ he and Rees shouldn’t have been talking. Clearly the raptors had heard them and come to investigate.

And yet…something about that didn’t ring quite true. Something about the way one of the creatures was slightly in front, almost as if it was leading the other two. If the noise of the talking had attracted the individual animals, wouldn’t they all have arrived separately?

And as the raptor in front stopped, tilted its head back, and looked straight up at him through the foliage, Connor knew he was right.    The creature had known he and Rees were up here the whole time. It had known they were here, and had gone to fetch its two friends to share in the hunt. And the rewards.

For a full ten seconds Connor and the raptor stared at each other, and Connor shivered slightly at the hungry glint in that reptilian gaze. Then the creature growled, earning a similar response from its two companions, and the spell broke.

“Connor? Connor, don’t worry, we’ll be safe up here. They can’t get us.”

But even as Rees tried to reassure him, the first raptor jumped up towards them. Ten feet straight up, and even in the darkness Connor could tell that it had expended hardly any effort to do so. It would have no problem leaping higher. And they had only climbed fifteen feet.

“Shit.” The whispered curse was hardly comforting, but Connor appreciated Rees’ sentiment nonetheless. “Did you know they could do that?”

“Sort of,” said Connor awkwardly. “But I didn’t know they could do it that well.”

“We need to get higher. I think the branches above us will hold our weight.”

“And if they don’t?” said Connor. “You may not have noticed, but that welcoming committee down there doesn’t look particularly friendly.”

“We haven’t got a choice,” pointed out Rees. “If they can jump this high, it’s a fair bet they’ll have no problem swiping one of us from our perch once they’re up here. We need to be out of range.”

Connor reluctantly conceded the point. He watched as Rees shifted his position gingerly, thoroughly testing a branch about three feet above the one he was sitting on before heaving himself up on to it. Below, the raptors were watching too, obviously having worked out what their prey was trying to accomplish. Their efforts to reach the humans increased.

“Connor, come on!”

Carefully, Connor unfolded his stiffening limbs. His right side ached abominably, and he knew that scrambling yet further up a tree was only going to make it worse. His hope that the cavalry was riding to the rescue suddenly increased a hundredfold. Although he couldn’t decide if he wanted Nick to be leading that cavalry, or if he wanted the professor to stay as far away as possible.

Shoving the thoughts of Nick aside, Connor eyed his target branch uncomfortably. It was about eighteen inches above his head, and he knew he was going to have to stand to have any chance of reaching it in his current condition. Trying to ignore the imminent danger that was a little less far below him with every passing second, he took a firmer grip on the branch in his left hand, and started to haul himself upright. His left arm had pins and needles from being in the same position for so long, not to mention from maintaining a death grip on the branch, but he managed to achieve the desired result without any major mishap befalling him.

But then came the problem. He couldn’t let go of that branch until he had a firm grip on the new one. He knew it wouldn’t be possible to shift his left hand from one to the other without something happening – he was far too wobbly to maintain his balance on a branch without holding on to something, even if it was only for a second.

No, he would have to grasp the new branch with his throbbing right hand. Experimentally, he wiggled his fingers and wrist. They still ached, like the rest of his right side, but they didn’t seem too bad. Maybe he would be able to do this. Carefully, he lifted his right hand towards the new branch.

Pain lanced up his arm and down his side into his leg. His right foot jerked involuntarily, losing its placement on the branch. His injured body betrayed him, its weight pulling him downwards, his tired left hand losing its grip on its branch.

He fell.


	3. Chapter 3

Lieutenant Malcolm Davis pushed through the bushes, fully aware of the amount of noise he was making, but also knowing that there wasn’t much he could do about it. The undergrowth in this part of the wood was rather densely packed, and in order to move through it he was having to shove aside foliage, branches, and sometimes whole plants.

And from the noise coming from behind him he could tell that the rest of his unit were having just as many problems as he was. Davis sighed quietly. This was not the way to track something. Anything lurking in these woods would hear them coming a mile off. Although, if it was Temple and Rees listening out, then at least they would know help was on the way.

But it was the other things that might be listening that he was worried about.

All of which made the radio silence that Captain Jacobs had just imposed seem rather redundant. The captain had contacted him, given him a quick update on the situation, and then countermanded his previous orders by telling them to stay off the airwaves until further notice. Unless of course, they needed help. Which, given what Jacobs had said about Maguire and Carter, and about the professor’s theories about what had done that to them, seemed more than likely to become the case.

The lieutenant sighed again, this time with relief, as the undergrowth abruptly thinned out, making both movement and visibility that little bit easier. There was still no sign of Temple and Rees, however. And there was no sign of these utahraptors, either.

Davis signalled to his men to start moving a bit faster. They needed to cover more ground. Now that Jacobs, Anders, and the professor were stuck at the anomaly site taking care of Carter, there was only him and his men left to conduct the search.  And Davis was determined not to be too late.

Suddenly, from up ahead came a crashing noise, accompanied by what sounded ominously like a human cry of fear. Davis froze for half a second, and then broke into a run, knowing his men would follow. He was still quiet, but now he was fast too. And without a shadow of a doubt, he knew he needed to be.

*   *   *   *   *

Connor lay contorted on the ground, his body a mass of pain, and his lungs on fire from lack of oxygen. He had fallen fifteen feet straight down, with what seemed like every branch his tree possessed scraping or poking him on the way past.

However, it was also those very branches that had probably saved his life, breaking his fall just enough to ensure that, now he had hit the ground, he wasn’t dead.

Or, at least, he wasn’t dead _yet_.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that the raptors could only be feet away. And there was no way they were going to pass up this free meal that had just landed in front of them. But all he could focus on was the pain, and his desperate struggle to drag some air into his lungs. What happened next seemed unimportant by comparison.

But then one of the raptors growled, and the other two emitted eerie yelping barks that Connor could have sworn held an element of triumph. And suddenly what happened next seemed _very_ important.

But he couldn’t move. He could barely breathe. And he knew, with an awful certainty, that he was about to die.

So when the rattle of gunfire broke the ominous quiet blanketing the woodland, his initial surprise was quickly consumed by a vast and overwhelming relief, despite the way the noise jarred his head and made his battered body flinch.

There was a high-pitched wail of pain from one of the raptors, followed by the unmistakeable thud of a body hitting the ground – a sound that Connor was by now well acquainted with. Another raptor snarled, although the sound was quickly drowned out by a second burst of gunfire.

Then there was…silence. The other two raptors were gone, and Connor was alone.

But not for long. The sound of footsteps and rustling foliage announced the arrival of his saviours. Squinting through the darkness he recognised the men as soldiers, and when the one in front spoke he heard the familiar voice of Lieutenant Davis.

“Temple? You alright?”

Connor debated trying to put a brave face on things, but quickly decided that no one would believe that for a second. “Not really.”

“Can you move? Have you broken any bones?”

He thought for a second. Yes, he was in a lot of pain, but nothing that was so bad as to indicate any permanent damage. “No.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” The voice was Rees’, the words accompanied by a thump as he landed next to Connor. If Davis was surprised to see one of his colleagues dropping out of a tree he didn’t show it, but instead stepped aside to allow Rees access, lifting his radio as he did so.

“Captain Jacobs, come in.”

There was a short pause, and then the radio crackled. “ _Jacobs here. What’s the situation?_ ”

“We’ve found Temple and Rees. They should both be alright, although Temple’s a bit bashed up. But listen – I need to warn you, there could be hostiles heading your way. Couple of mean fuckers – one injured, but one very much not. Be on the look out.”

Connor’s head jerked slightly as he listened intently, earning him a reproving tut from Rees.  _Oh god, Nick_.

“ _Are you referring to the raptors?_ ”

Davis glanced at Connor, who nodded emphatically.

“Yes, it’s the raptors.”

“ _Then we might need some backup here. Can you manage that?_ ”

“Yes, sir. We’re on our way. Davis out.”

The lieutenant looked around at the rest of his men, pointing to one of them. “Bradshaw, stay with Rees and Temple and help them back to the trucks. Goodman, Reilly, you’re with me.” He looked down at Connor again. “Is he going to be okay to move?”

“Yes,” said Rees firmly, although Connor himself thought he’d never been less okay to move in his entire life. “If necessary we’ll carry him. But we’ll get him out of here.”

“Good. We’ll see you back at the trucks. Come on, lads.”

As he watched Davis, Goodman, and Reilly melt away into the darkness and undergrowth, Connor suddenly felt a hand being slid under his back. He tensed. “Hey! I can walk, you know! No one needs to carry me.” He struggled into a sitting position, gritting his teeth as what felt like every bone and muscle in his body throbbed viciously. “I’m not helpless.”

“Okay,” Rees said, smiling slightly. “But if you feel like something’s wrong, _tell me_. The professor will never forgive me if I let something happen to you after all this.”

“Fine,” Connor agreed, a little sulkily, although he knew the medic was talking sense.

“Will you at least let me help you up?”

Connor looked round to see Rees extending a hand towards him. “Okay,” he replied grudgingly.

Standing up was a more painful experience than he’d expected, and it was several seconds before the world stopped spinning and the nausea subsided. When he could see straight again, he noticed Rees looking at him critically.

“Are you sure you’re okay to walk?”

“Yes!” Connor paused. “Just…let’s go slowly, okay?”

“Okay,” Rees agreed. They set off, Corporal Bradshaw in front, Connor and Rees shuffling along behind. Connor felt marginally less wobbly with every step, although he still ached all over.

“Do you think the others will be alright?” he asked in a small voice, after a few minutes’ hobbling.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Rees responded sympathetically, his tone of voice telling Connor that he knew exactly who Connor was most worried about. “Jacobs and Davis and Anders and the others can handle the situation. And the professor’s not stupid either. They’ll be fine.”

*   *   *   *   *

The waiting was getting unbearable, although Nick knew that it could only have been five minutes at most since Lieutenant Davis had contacted Jacobs and told him the raptors were on the move. His every muscle was tense, and all his nerve endings were tingling with dread. The sick feeling of anticipation in his stomach wasn’t helping either.

Jacobs had made Nick stand guard next to the now unconscious Corporal Carter, while he and Anders took up positions flanking the anomaly, each facing outwards in the general direction they thought the raptors might be coming from.

They all knew there was every possibility the creatures might simply circle around and come at them from behind – these were intelligent animals, after all. Still, Nick hoped the fact that one of them was injured might encourage them to take the simplest route towards home and safety – straight towards the humans, and the anomaly.

“Are we going to hear these buggers before we see them?” Jacobs asked quietly, addressing his words to Nick.

“Normally, I’d say no,” Nick replied. “Utahraptor was thought to rely on speed and stealth to hunt. But with one of them injured, I’d say we’ve got a better chance than normal.” He didn’t bother to elaborate on exactly _how_ much better that chance was – they both knew this was probably still going to be tough.

“Just so long as I get a couple of decent shots at them,” said Anders grimly. Maguire’s body was still lying off to one side, an awful reminder of what exactly these animals were capable of. And with Carter getting weaker by the second, both Jacobs and Anders were looking to cause some damage.

“Only shoot them if they actually attack us,” said Nick.  “If they head straight for the anomaly, let them go.”

“You have got to be kidding me!” Anders sounded outraged. “After everything that’s happened over the past few months, you still want to put these things first?”

“Yes,” replied Nick calmly. “They don’t deserve to be shot. They’re only following their instincts.”

“But…”

Jacobs’ sharply raised hand interrupted the debate. “Do you hear that?” he muttered.

Nick listened. The soldier was right. Once again, there was a crashing sound coming from the depths of the woods.

“Do you think it’s…”

The question was answered before it had even finished being asked, as a raptor burst from the undergrowth, heading straight towards them at top speed. Jacobs and Anders both jumped back slightly as the creature sped between them, before skidding to a halt in front of the anomaly and turning to face them all. It snarled menacingly, but made no attempts to attack any of the men.

“What’s it doing?” Anders asked, as quietly as he could.

Nick shook his head – he had no idea. This was previously unsuspected behaviour.

Then a second raptor emerged from the bushes. It was limping, its right leg clearly injured where one of Davis’ men had shot it. And suddenly things clicked into place.

“It’s guarding the route home,” Nick said, amazed. “It’s protected its companion all the way back here, and now it’s making sure we don’t block them from going back through the anomaly. It would rather be assured of getting home than attack us.”

“So there’s nothing stopping me shooting them both?” Anders enquired.

“How about common decency and a shred of humanity?” Nick shot back sharply. His raised tone of voice made the raptor in front of the anomaly jerk its head around towards him, but the animal still made no move away from the portal, quickly switching its gaze back to its wounded friend as the other raptor limped towards it.

“Both of you, _shut up_ ,” said Jacobs sternly. He was watching the raptors intently. “Let them go.” Nick smiled triumphantly. “But if either of them looks like they pose a threat, shoot it.” 

Nick’s smile died as Anders nodded in response to his commanding officer’s instructions. Mentally he started willing the injured raptor forward, cheering silently as it finally reached its friend. It was carefully shepherded through the anomaly by the other raptor, who then took a last opportunity to glare threateningly at Nick and the soldiers, as if daring them to try following. Then it too was gone.

Seconds later Davis, Goodman, and Reilly appeared from the same direction as the raptors, all looking slightly confused at finding Nick, Jacobs, and Anders standing around unharmed, and conspicuously alone.

“Where are the raptors?” asked Davis.

“Gone home,” replied Nick.

“Yep, you were a bit too late this time, lieutenant,” added Jacobs. “You missed the party.”

“Not that it was a very exciting one,” Anders muttered, before subsiding under a forbidding glare from his captain.

Davis’ gaze fell on Maguire’s body, and his expression turned sombre. “He was a good man,” he said sympathetically. “He didn’t deserve that.”

“No one deserves that,” said Jacobs. There was a moment of silence, and then a radio crackled.

“ _Captain Jacobs, come in._ ”

The voice was Jenny Lewis’, and Jacobs quickly lifted his radio. “Jacobs here.”

“ _The medical team have arrived. Is it safe to send them to you_?”

“Yes. Everything’s clear here. Send them on in. Although you might want to keep one of them back. Temple and Rees are on their way out to you, and Temple’s not in great shape.”

“ _Okay. The medics are on their way now_.”

“I have to go.”

Nick’s voice drowned out Jacobs’ final response to Jenny. The captain looked at him understandingly. “Of course, professor. Davis, go with him, will you? Leave your lads here, just in case they’re needed. I expect the woods are safe enough now.” He glanced at Nick, who nodded quickly.

“Good. Off you go, then.”

*   *   *   *   *

“Connor!”

Connor lifted his head a little too quickly at the sound of Nick’s worried voice, sending a jolt of pain down his spine and making him grimace as the other man hurried up.

“Are you alright?”

“He’ll be fine.” Lieutenant Rees answered before Connor had a chance to. “As far as I and the other medics can tell there’s no permanent damage. But he still needs to go to hospital, and after that he’ll need plenty of rest. No chasing around after dinosaurs for a while.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll look after him,” Nick replied. “I’ll make sure he has time to recuperate.”

Connor’s grimace deepened at all the mollycoddling he seemed to be on the receiving end of at the moment. Although, thinking about it, being mollycoddled by Nick wasn’t a totally unpleasant prospect.

“Is he alright?” Abby had wandered over, looking simultaneously concerned and nervous.

“I’m fine,” Connor started to say, but this time he was drowned out by Nick.

“He will be. He just needs lots of rest, and then he’ll be as right as rain.”

Abby smiled fondly at Connor, but the expression dimmed slightly as her gaze switched back to Nick. “”I’m sorry about the triceratops, professor,” she said abruptly, with the air of one forcing out a dreaded confession. “But I had to let it out of the lorry. It was getting really agitated, and I was afraid it would hurt itself. And then when I let it out there wasn’t time to sedate it again before it shot off into the woods.”

“It’s okay,” Nick reassured her. “No harm done. Gave me and the others a bit of a fright for a moment, that’s all. Don’t worry about it any more.”

Abby looked relieved. “I’m going to head back to the ARC,” she said. “Apparently Lester’s been on the phone again, demanding to know what’s going on. But Jenny’s staying here until the area is cleared. I’m going to go make nice with the boss man.” She grinned slightly, and then leaned down to give Connor a peck on the cheek. “I’m glad you’re okay, Connor,” she added softly, before heading off in the direction on the trucks. Rees discreetly removed himself too, leaving Connor and Nick alone.

Nick crouched down next to Connor. “Are you sure you’re alright? I was worried, you know.”

“Oh, so you have realised I exist then!” Connor retorted back. “Honestly, you’d think I couldn’t speak for myself.” But he couldn’t sustain his annoyance in the face of Nick’s genuinely worried expression, so he relented. “I promise I’m fine,” he continued. “I hurt all over, and Rees tells me I’m going to turn some pretty spectacular shades of black and blue, but I’ll live. Unlike them,” he finished soberly, nodding at something behind Nick.

Nick turned awkwardly, and they both watched silently as the medical team emerged from the woods with two stretchers, one carrying the unconscious Carter, and one carrying a body bag.

“I was lucky,” Connor murmured softly. “That could have been me. Or you.”

Nick rose and perched himself on the tailgate of the medical vehicle next to Connor, gently placing an arm around his shoulders and pressing a kiss to his temple. He didn’t say anything, but right at that moment Connor was profoundly grateful for his presence. Another good man had been lost today, and when he considered how easily that could have been him or Nick, he shuddered. Or, at least, he would have done if it hadn’t caused him so much pain.

They sat quietly for a couple more minutes before Rees reappeared. This time Connor didn’t feel the slightest bit embarrassed at being found in Nick’s embrace, and he nodded when Rees smiled at him.

“Come on, time we were getting you to the hospital. Do you think you can climb in the back of the car?”

“I’m coming too,” said Nick.

“Of course, professor.”

As the pair of them settled themselves in the back of the car, Nick’s arm went back around Connor, and Connor let his head rest on Nick’s shoulder, sighing quietly as he did so. Nick glanced down at him and tightened his grip slightly.

"I'm glad you're okay."


End file.
